1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical assembly, and particularly to a printed circuit board assembly having an electronic card electrically and mechanically connected to a mother board via an electrical connector and a latching mechanism in a parallel manner.
2. The Related Art
Taiwan patent number 545747 discloses a kind of latching mechanism for use with a card edge connector. A electronic card includes a distal end which is inserted to said card edge connector and a opposite distal end which is locked by said latching mechanism. The mechanism is made from insulative material including a supporting portion and a latching portion, which upwardly extends from the supporting portion, wherein the latching portion includes a elastic arm extending from the supporting portion. Because the elastic arm is so short which is approximate equal to the thickness of the card, thus resulting in limited elasticity of the elastic arm. As a result, the latching portion has less moveability and less effective latching area with regard to the opposite distal end of the card. It is possible for the card to be withdrawn from the latching mechanism in vibration. On the other hand, the latching mechanism cannot be assembled to a printed circuit board using conventional pick and place equipment because there is not any portion for picking.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,021,953 discloses latching mechanism for use with a card edge connector, wherein the latching mechanism defines a latching portion at a distal end of a spring arm, a support portion and a positioning post, which extends from the support portion. This design allows the better guiding function of the positioning post and the electronic card does not tend to be withdrawn from the latching portion. Anyhow, the latching mechanism is made from a single metal piece in forming which results in complicated structure and the uncontrollable dimension and position precision. Understandably, this design has difficulties in manufacturing. On the other hand, the metallic latching mechanism disadvantageously tends to result in shorting if the neighboring component is densely arranged therearound
Therefore, it is desired to have an improved latching mechanism for use with the card edge connector.